


Back Where We Belong

by supernerd96



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Best Friends, Canon Compliant, Deamus, Friends to Lovers, Getting to Know Each Other, Humor, Life of, M/M, Male Friendship, Slow Build, Snapshots, The Golden Trio Era, life at hogwarts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-09
Packaged: 2018-08-12 18:37:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 4,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7945003
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supernerd96/pseuds/supernerd96
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Conversations Dean and Seamus have throughout the years as they struggle with life in the wizarding world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1st Year

For a moment he had forgotten where he was, until he heard Neville sigh and quietly say: “Tristan?” Neville left the dorm whispering the toad’s name repeatedly. Then, he opened his eyes and stretched languidly. Harry, Ron and Neville were gone, Dean was sitting in the windowsill, sketching in a drawing pad.

“You draw?” Seamus asked, his voice slightly groggy.

“I try to. Not very good yet though.”

Seamus started getting dressed. “Wish I could, my dad says I don’t have half an artistic streak in me.”

Dean didn’t look up, but his mouth curved slightly upwards.

“You need to draw me once. Though I should warn you, it is incredibly difficult to capture the magnificence that is myself,” Seamus said jokingly.

Dean rolled his eyes, laughed, and said: “I believe you.”

“How are you liking Hogwarts so far?” Seamus asked, curious to know how someone new to magic felt.

“It’s… magical. I feel like I can’t close my eyes because I’m scared I’ll miss something extraordinary,” while he tried to sound positive, there was a streak of something sad in his tone.

“But?”

“But I’m also terrified that I don’t belong here,” he paused for a bit. Then, as if he suddenly remembered what he was talking about, continued with increased vigour. “As in, you, Ron, Neville grew up with all this. It’s normal to you. To me, and to Harry too I suppose, this is the scariest thing ever. You know all this magical stuff. It’s all new to me and I feel at such a disadvantage.”

“Understandable,” Seamus said thoughtfully. “Though, I don’t think you’ll be at a disadvantage. We have never specifically learned magic before either. Our parents don’t usually say spells out loud when they do them so I don’t really know that many.”

“The wizarding world seems to be a lot more than just memorising spells, Seamus.”

“Okay, what you don’t know, that I do, are mainly the bits and bobs of wizard culture. All these little things I take for granted.”

“I suppose.”

“Now that’s a good thing.”

“How is that a good thing?”

“Because it can be learned. There are wizards who are bad at simply being wizards. These are the people who can’t do basic spells correctly, even though they try hard. Then there are the people who do everything really well, the talented wizards. That comes natural. Of course you get better with practice, but the really great wizards were already good when they started. The same with the less good ones. You seem very capable, you’re clearly good with your hands,” he gestured towards the drawing pad, “which I would say is a good sign. There is no reason why you should be bad at magic.”

“You think so?”

“I certainly do. All you need is someone to teach you all about life as a wizard.” Seamus smiled widely at his new friend. “Lucky for you, you’ve got me to be your teacher.”

Dean grinned widely back, looking a lot more comfortable than he had mere minutes ago.

A few moments passed by in silence as Seamus did his final preparations. “You hungry?”

Dean nodded enthusiastically: “Yup, let’s go.”

They made their way down to the Great Hall, Seamus telling him all about dragons, which Dean was shocked to find out were in fact real. And by the time they had reached their table, Seamus knew he’d found his new best friend.


	2. 2nd Year

Dean and Seamus sat down on a bench overlooking the lake. Seamus’ mum had just sent a fresh batch of the best candy the wizarding world had to offer and they were rapidly making their way through it.

“Liquorice is God’s greatest creation, Seamus,” Dean said while lovingly staring at his liquorice wand.

“Gross, I hate liquorice,” Seamus said, his look filled with disgust. “You can have them all. For all eternity, if I am given a liquorice wand you shall have it.”

“I appreciate that.”

 

 

“You know who I don’t like?” Dean asked, staring out into the lake.

“Everyone?” Seamus teased.

“Not true. I like a few selected individuals. Anyway, I’ve got to say I really despise Professor Lockhart with all my heart.”

“What, the blonde mane not doing it for you?” the Irishman laughed.

“Gross.”

“I agree; he is a revolting lad. Mum fancies him though. Says he’s got charm. Clearly, she’s never seen him in person.”

“All girls do,” Dean agreed. “Did you see Lavender the other day? I swear there was drool on her desk at one point.”

“I wonder who we’ll get next year,” Seamus speculated and tossed away a very dodgy looking bean.

“You don’t think he’ll continue?”

“Doubt it. Apparently, the position is haunted. You-Know-Who wanted it when he was young.”

Disbelief was written on Dean’s face: “He wanted to teach _Defence_ Against the Dark Arts?”

“So I’ve been told. When he didn’t get it, he cursed the job and now no one stays for more than a year.” Seamus bit into a bean, which luckily turned out to be chocolate. More often than not he got the chocolate one mixed up with the dog food one.

“Woah. Well, I’m not complaining. That means Lockhart will be gone by the end of the year.”

“Amen to that.” Seamus agreed and high-fived his mate.

 

The boys ate their sweets in silence for a while, watching the giant squid.

“I’m scared,” Dean said suddenly.

“Of what? The squid?” Seamus looked at his friend, already knowing the answer.

“I’m a muggleborn Gryffindor, Seamus. I will come after me. What if I end up in the hospital wing next to Colin? Or worse, what if it kills me?”

“First of all, we don’t know that you’re a muggleborn,” Seamus began, “Secondly, Colin was alone when he was attacked. You, on the other hand, have been blessed with me as your best friend, and I will not leave your side as long as this monster is loose. I’ll protect you.”

Dean laughed loudly and said: “what are you going to do, mate, blow it up? Set it on fire?”

“You’re hilarious, Thomas,” he said sarcastically while squinting at his friend. “At least you find yourself funny.”

Dean continued to laugh at his own joke. “So do you, Finnigan, don’t deny it. Anyway, thank you for blessing me with your protection.”

“S’what I’m here for.”

“If not,” Dean said, smiling playfully. “We can be sure that Professor Lockhart comes to the rescue. After all, he has won Witch Weekly’s Most Charming Smile Award five times in a row.”


	3. 3rd Year

A few days after Sirius Black came into the dorms, Seamus thoroughly struggled to sleep. That madman was in this room, no more than a few meters away. He could easily have killed us all, he thought. Probably wouldn’t even think twice. And since he didn’t get what he was coming for, everyone can be damn sure he will return too. Ron and Neville were snoring loudly, Harry kept muttering in his sleep. Clearly, they weren’t as worried. Dean was tossing and turning too.

“Dean?”

“Yeah?”

“I can’t sleep.”

“Me neither,” he murmured back.

Suddenly, the bed shifted and another body joined Seamus. “I’m a little scared,” Dean whispered into his ear. “Sirius Black does not strike me as the person who gives up after one failed mission.”

“I know. Me too.”

 

 

“I have a theory,” Dean said.

“Yeah?”

“It sounds ridiculous, but it makes sense. And you can’t tell anyone, because I don’t think people would be as fond as they are at the moment. I didn’t realise at first, but I was in the library the other day and it just hit me.”

“What are you on about, Dean?”

“I think Professor Lupin is,” he hesitated, and lowered his voice even more, if Seamus hadn’t already been so close he wouldn’t have heard him. “a werewolf.”

“What?!” he yelped, Dean hastily covered Seamus’ mouth with his hand. Neville stopped snoring. Neither boy moved until they heard him turn, grunt and go back to snoring incessantly.

Dean took his hand away, quieter, Seamus whispered: “What?”

“It makes sense. Snape hates him. The minute he got to teach the class he dove straight into werewolf mythology. He obviously wants us to expose him! Lupin is sick regularly, conveniently he’s gone whenever there's a full moon. He has those scars. If anyone found out, the parents would flip and he would get fired instantly. Lucky for Snape, because that means the position needs to be filled, again.”

“Merlin’s beard! I suppose it makes sense on some level,” Seamus agreed hesitantly, stroking his chin in consideration. “But werewolves are very dangerous, Dean. Do really you think Dumbledore would let a person with that condition teach hundreds of kids?”

“Have you met Dumbledore? Of course he would.”

Seamus took a moment to consider the warnings they received at the beginning of each school year. “Yeah he would. Never mind.”

“Let’s not tell anyone about this, alright? We can discuss it more later.” Dean asked carefully.

“We certainly will not tell, Lupin is a brilliant teacher. I’d hate to see him go.”

“Hear hear,” Dean murmured in agreement.

 

The boys were quiet for a while, Seamus heard Dean’s breathing even out and get heavier.

“Dean?”

A pause. “Yeah?”

“Remember in first year, I said you should draw my magnificent self?”

“How could I forget?” It sounded like Dean was smiling.

“Well, I’ve never actually seen a drawing of myself.”

“Don’t worry, buddy” Dean said condescendingly, patting Seamus’ cheek. “Don’t fret, you’ll get your drawing eventually. To be honest, I have tried, but you’re a little hard to sketch.”

“I choose to take that as a compliment. Too good-looking I reckon.” He said, smiling as his eyelids slowly became impossibly heavy.

“Must be it,” Dean snickered.


	4. 4th Year

As Harry and Ron finally left the dormitory, Seamus and Dean burst out laughing. “Did you see that?!” Seamus gasped, hugging his stomach.

“My oh my, poor Ron,” Dean said between bursts of laughter. “It’s so horrible. Might be the worst outfit I have ever seen.”

“Definitely the worst outfit I have ever seen. There aren’t enough jokes in the world.”

“I’m surprised, Seamus, you held it together quite nicely there. Shockingly few comments.”

“I’m maturing.”

“Please,” Dean rolled his eyes.

“I fear if I had given one more remark about his dress robes, he would have strangled me.”

“I’m sure he’d try. He sounded like an absolute wreck.”

They laughed some more and started getting dressed. Dean finished before Seamus had even gotten a leg inside his trousers and sat down with his drawing pad. Seamus got dressed while pondering how the night would go. This wasn’t exactly what any of them were used to. A ball. A formal ball at that. The last time Seamus had dressed formally had been his great uncle’s funeral.

Thank god he was going with Lavender, someone he knew well and was comfortable with. If he’d been in Dean’s shoes he’d be terrified. Dean did not look worried. All he’d said about the ball was that he wished he would have asked Parvati earlier and that he was gutted Harry and Ron got to take the fittest girls in their year.

He was almost done getting dressed, but when he took up his tie, his blood froze. Damn it. He took a deep breath and swallowed his pride.

“Dean, help” Seamus said, demanding attention. “I’ve never tied a tie before.”

“Let me,” Dean chuckled and went over to tie his tie for him. “How is it you have lived 14 years and never learned to tie a tie?”

“Well, I never untie them usually, just tighten and loosen.”

“You’re such a nerd.”

“Shut up.”

Seamus watched Dean frown as he struggled with the black tie. “I’ve never done it from this angle before, it’s a bit different from when I do it on myself.”

“That’s what she said.”

Dean rolled his eyes, but the frown was replaced with a smirk. He glanced up at Seamus’ eyes briefly before focusing on the tie again. Seamus raised his eyebrows and grinned. “Am I distracting you, Thomas?”

“Not at all, Finnigan,” Dean murmured as he straightened the tie and glanced up at Seamus' eyes again. He didn't look away.

They were standing way too close. This could not be what was considered normal distance between two people. Seamus wouldn't, couldn't, move.

Suddenly, Dean came to his senses, because he shook his head slightly and cleared his throat loudly. Seamus promptly joined him with the throat clearing.

“You ready?” Dean asked, not looking at Seamus.

“As good as. How do I look?”

“Divine mate,” he replied sarcastically. “Come on, there are ladies are waiting.”


	5. 5th Year

Seamus and Dean were alone when they woke up this morning. The rest of their dorm mates had apparently gotten an early start to the day. It had been a bit shaky between the pair following the falling out with Harry and then Dean joining Dumbledore’s Army. Seamus hoped that that was about to change.

“Dean,” he began, voice quivering slightly. “I need to apologise. I’ve acted like a dick and I’m sorry for that. With all that’s been happening and the Quibbler article, I know that Harry and Dumbledore were right from the start. I should never have doubted that. My mum is slowly coming to the same realisation. I think she was just scared, like everyone is. Voldemort is _the_ symbol of death and destruction. So many people made their peace with him being too weak to ever come back and my mum was one of them. So it’s hard to accept what’s happening.”

When Dean understood Seamus was done explaining he grinned and said: “about bloody time, Finnigan. Welcome back to the world of the sane.”

Relieved, Seamus let out a longheld breath. “Thanks, Thomas”

Dean lowered his voice: “Come to a DA meeting with me?”

“If Harry’ll want me there, I’ll definitely go.”

“Sweet. I’m sure as long as you apologise he’ll be cool with it,” Dean said as he tried to get his head through the arm hole of his jumper.

“You need a hand there, Dean?” Seamus asked, not trying to mask his laughter.

“Shut up, I’m fully competent” he retorted, muffled by his jumper.

“I can see that.”

After a few more tries, Dean successfully put his jumper on and they made their way down for breakfast.

 

In the Great Hall, tension ran high. Umbridge had just come up with another ridiculous restriction and it was clear the students were not happy.

“What’s it this time?” Dean asked Ginny as they joined her at the Gryffindor table.

“Boys and girls are not permitted to be within 6 inches of each other. Completely ridiculous if you ask me. Not at all feasible.”

“Jesus H. Christ, that woman such a bitch,” Seamus said, somewhat loudly.

“Shush! She’s got ears everywhere,” Ginny uttered and glanced in Malfoy’s direction.

“Sorry!”

Ginny scowled at Seamus.

Dean whispered: “Gin, Seamus is going to talk to Harry about joining the DA.”

“Oh really?” Her eyebrows shot up. “Finally taken to your senses, have you?”

“Yeah, about time was it not?” Seamus uttered, avoiding to meet her eyes.

“Great! We can always use more members.” With that she stood up, smiling friendly at Seamus, but her eyes remained serious. “I’m heading out. See you nerds later.”

“She’s a feisty one,” Seamus muttered.

“Yeah,” Dean agreed, keeping his gaze on her as she exited the hall. Seamus felt a little stab in his stomach. He wasn’t sure why, but he certainly didn’t love the look on Dean’s face.

“What are we doing today?” Seamus said, surprised by the sharpness in his own voice.

“Considering the long-ass essay Snape demands by Tuesday, I think we best be off to the library.”

“So…?”

“So anything but the library.”

“That’s my boy!” Seamus high-fived his friend, happy things were going back to normal.


	6. (Summer after) 6th Year

Seamus was home alone for the time being. He was meant to have started packing for Hogwarts, but he was having trouble starting. For quite a number of reasons he wasn’t looking forward to his final school year. Instead he’d been sneak eating biscuits from the cupboards and staring blankly into the air most of the summer.

Seamus went out into the garden and found himself face to face with Dean. Startled, he let out a very manly shriek. “Dean! Merlin’s beard you scared me! How the hell did you get here?”

“Sorry,” Dean said, mouth curving slightly upwards. “I need to talk to you.”

“What’s up?”

“I’m not going back,” he said, sitting down in one of the garden chairs, a serious look on his face.

Seamus sat down too, maintaining eye contact. “I know. You’re not safe there. You need to run.”

Dean looked slightly taken aback with Seamus agreeing, he’d probably expected a fight. “They’re calling in all muggleborns. God knows what’s going to happen to them. We still don’t know if your dad was a wizard, but it’s not worth the risk. If you can’t prove it, you’re not safe. No, it’s better for you if you run. At least that way you have a chance.”

“When did you get all sensible?” Dean asked, a look of disbelief on his face. “I was expecting the fight of the century here.”

“And I’m coming with you.”

“There it is,” if Seamus was being honest, Dean looked a little relieved. “You can’t come with me.”

“I can too! I’m a legal adult. I can do what I want.”

“You can’t! You need to be at Hogwarts! Protecting people! Fighting the battle from inside the walls!”

“Who’s going to protect you then?!”

Dean rolled his eyes, but his expression amused: “Believe it or not, by now, I think I’ll be able to protect myself.”

Seamus let out a shaky laugh. “I know you can.”

“It’s not what I want, but it’ll be safer for both of us if we’re apart.”

“It’s not ideal no,” he said, pondering how he was going to get through this year without him. He’d been sure Dean wouldn’t come back, but it was something entirely different to have it confirmed. “Christ, this year is going to suck so hard.”

Dean nodded solemnly in agreement. “Leave it to Harry to get it done by the end of the school year.”

Seamus chuckled. “You sure he’ll defeat You-Know-Who in the end?”

Dean shrugged. “Good always defeats bad, why should this time be any different?”

They sat in silence for a little while. There were no birds chirping, just a dead quiet.

 

“I don’t know when we’ll see each other again,” Dean said. “But I’m sure we’ll come out of this in one piece. No more than a few burn wounds on your side, yeah?”

“Funny,” Seamus remarked. He looked up to see Dean biting his lip with worry.

“Don’t look so terrified, mate. You’re a Gryffindor. You know what that means.” And he said in the voice of the sorting hat “ _You might belong in Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart. Their daring, nerve, and chivalry set Gryffindors apart_.”

“Right, how could I forget? You best remember it too, mate,” he said, amused. Then his shoulders tensed and face turned hard. “I think it’s time for me to go.”

Seamus was almost glad, if he’d stayed much longer he wasn't sure he’d ever let Dean leave. “I’ll walk you out. I’m assuming you Apparated and snuck in and there isn’t a secret entrance to our back yard.”

“You never know,” Dean grinned and raised his eyebrows teasingly.

They walked wordlessly down to the gate. Dean eventually broke the silence: “send a letter to my folks every once in a while. And…” he hesitated, “if you hear anything about me, if something happens, I want you to be the one who tells them. They trust you.”

“I promise, mate.” There was no joking that away. It was reality and needed to be faced head on. “This is it then? This is goodbye?”

“No, it’s not. It’s just a ‘see you in a little while’. Nothing permanent at all.”

Seamus looked Dean over, trying to memorize every inch of him, every tiny little detail. It looked like Dean was doing the exact same thing to him as well.

“m’gonna miss you, Thomas. Hogwarts won’t be the same without you.”

“I’ll miss you too, Finnigan.”

There was a moment of hesitation before they both surged forward in a bone crushing hug. Seamus was willing to give anything to make this moment last as long as possible, and so they hugged for what felt like forever. Eventually though, they had to let go.

Dean took a few steps back, never taking his eyes off Seamus, backing up until he reached the road and was able to apparate. “Seamus, I think I…” he began, but then seemed to change his mind, and he shook his head ever so slightly. If Seamus’ eyes hadn’t been glued to him, he might have missed it. Then he was gone with a _crack_ and out of Seamus’ life.


	7. 7th Year

Voldemort was finally dead. The body remaining was nothing but an empty shell that used to be the vessel of pure evil. People all around were crying with joy, with grief, with exhaustion. The Battle of Hogwarts had come to an end. Seamus scanned the crowd for one face in particular, but as he struggled to locate him, his throat tightened. Everyone was gathered here. He was sure he’d seen him in the crowd earlier, but if he wasn’t here, then… No. There was no way.

He felt tears press in the corners of his eyes. Unnoticed, he turned and walked back into the castle. He didn’t stop until he’d reached the dormitories. What was left of it anyway. Gently, he sat down on Dean’s bed and ran his fingers over the sheets.

“Seamus.” A voice said behind him.

He quipped around and stood face to face with the person he had most longed to see. “Dean.”

He stared at his best friend, bruised, bleeding, limping, as he entered the dormitory and made his way towards Seamus.

“You’re alive,” he uttered, unable to say anything else.

“So are you. Told you we’d both make it in the end,” Dean didn’t stop until he was only a few centimetres away from him.

“Well, congratulations, you’re a psychic,” Seamus said sarcastically.

Dean smiled, eyes not leaving Seamus’. Somehow he was still coming closer and closer. He couldn’t think straight.

“Shut up, Seamus” Dean muttered and Seamus was unnervingly aware how close they stood.

“Y-you shut up,” Seamus stuttered, eyes focusing on Dean’s lips. “Dean,” he added lamely after a few beats.

By now they were so close their breaths were mingling.

“Am I making you nervous, Finnigan?” Dean breathed, voice barely above a whisper, lips only a few millimetres from Seamus’.

“Not at all, Thomas,” he whispered back and in one movement grabbed Dean’s jumper and pulled him in.

He had no idea how long the kiss lasted, the moment their lips met, he forgot everything that had happened. Every painful moment, every bruise, every beating, every lost soul he’d seen today, all washed away and it was only him and Dean.

It was the best kiss he’d had ever had. It was as if Dean’s mouth had been made for this purpose only. He swept his tongue over Seamus’ bottom lip and Seamus couldn’t stop himself from groaning loudly. That only seemed to excite Dean even more because he did a sharp intake and bit down on Seamus’ lip. Just when he though Dean was pulling back, Seamus followed and found his lips again, prolonging the moment of perfection.

An eternity later, the broke apart and rested their foreheads against each other, panting.

“You’re a bloody mess,” Dean breathed as he gently grabbed Seamus’ chin and carefully turned his face to inspect the damages.

“Look better than you still, I’m guessing,” he quipped back.

“Thank god you’re alive,” Dean murmured and leaned back in to kiss him, still holding on to his chin.

Seamus laughed and kissed him back.

 

“Did you ever think this would happen?” he asked when they broke apart again, looking up at Dean and gesturing between the two of them.

“Haven’t we already established I’m a psychic?” Dean playfully asked. “Honestly? I hadn’t thought much about it. Only last summer did I actually think that we could be more than what we already were. I sort of never allowed myself to think about you that way. You were my best friend you know? But when I saw you again earlier today, there was no fighting it. This year has been torture and one of the main reasons was because I was away from you. Then the battle began and I lost you again. I had no idea if you were alive or dead. I decided that when when it was all over I was just going to dive in head first. Which I did.”

“Damn right you did, Dean Thomas.”

“Did you see us happening?”

“No. I’ve know for a really long time that you were _different_ to me from everyone else, but it took me a while to figure out what it was. By that time, you were painfully into Ginny and I pretty much put all of it on ice. More important stuff was happening you know.”

“Lucky for you I stepped up and made the first move then, Seamus Finnigan.” Dean grinned and Seamus pulled him in for yet another kiss.

“So what happens now?” he asked when they broke apart again.

Dean took a deep breath. “Now, we go back down. We help with the clean up. We mourn those we lost. We help restore the school. We lower our shoulders for the first time in three years. And we find a way to go back to something resembling a normal life. _Together_.”

Seamus closed his eyes and relaxed into Dean’s ineffable goodness one last moment.

“Sound’s like a plan.”

When they started making their way back down, he got a mischievous smile on his face.

Dean raised his eyebrows worriedly. “What?”

“And then you’ll draw me?”

“Oh my god! Are you serious?”

“What? Seven years! Seven years and I’ve never seen a sketch of me.”

“You are unreal.”

“Thank you.”

They stared at each other for a few seconds and then, suddenly, Dean had him pressed against the wall in the stairwell and his mouth was on Seamus’ again. When they resurfaced he said: “I’ll show you the sketchpad I’ve been using for that past year. I have a feeling you’ll be very pleased.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, I finished it.   
> First and only fanfic I've ever written. I have loved every minute :)
> 
>  
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! Leave a comment if you like it! :)


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